GREAT BAY, St. Maarten — Teachers of subsidized schools can rest assured that they will soon receive the 1% increase in vacation allowance which has already been paid out to civil servants, and their colleagues in the public schools.
This assurance was given by Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs in response to the many calls she has been receiving from these teachers. “I have been receiving numerous calls and messages from teachers at the subsidized schools asking about their payment of the 1% vacation allowance,” Minister Gumbs said.
“I think it’s unfair that knowing that June is when they normally get their vacation allowance that this was not taken into consideration by the previous government. Hence, that is why I am working on making sure that this matter is resolved as soon as possible.”
Given that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS), has included this allowance in the budget amendment for 2024, Minister Marinka Gumbs has decided to explore ways to allocate this payment within the current 2024 budget.
It is negligent that the previous government included a 1% increase in vacation allowance for all civil servants but failed to account for it in the 2024 budget for subsidized schools, said the minister. This oversight also extends to the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) paid out in December 2023, which was not included in the 2024 budget for these schools. It appears that teachers in subsidized schools were overlooked.
Minister Gumbs said she finds it particularly unfair that the increased vacation allowance, which was paid out in June 2024, was not paid to these teachers, and that they now must wait for the budget amendment.
The law mandates that the vacation allowance should be paid out in June. Therefore, the minister is committed to finding a way to disburse the vacation allowance as soon as possible within the parameters of the current 2024 budget.
